It was Christmas Eve
by WeasleyLover07
Summary: One shot fic. Totally fluffy! Ron confesses his feelings to Hermione in seventh year, while spending Christmas at the Burrow.


Disclaimer: In the words of a wise person, the shit is mine, and the good stuff is all JKR's!

A/N: Just a one-shot….kind of hit me one night when I should have been doing homework… please review.. I want to know if I should keep writing or just be a reader of fan fics!!! 

It was Christmas Eve. 

The Burrow was dimly lit by one candle burning low in the kitchen and a small fire dying slowly in the parlor. The air smelt of roasted meat and ginger snaps.

The silence was heavy, save the crackling embers in the fire grate, but you could almost hear the laughter and voices still ring out.

All of the many bodies that had filled the house just hours before had climbed the stairs and slipped into feather beds, cots and cradles falling into peaceful sleep.

All but two, that is. 

One lay dozing on the living room sofa, a book laying forgotten on her chest, while another lay wide awake in his bed, thoughts weighing heavily on his mind.

_*What am I going to do? _

_Just having her in the house drives me mad, bloody hell she must have noticed me staring at her can hardly speak proper English around her lately..._

_I'm off my bloody trolley! Can barely study for NEWTS... especially when she insists on 'helping' me study, sitting so bloody close all the time..._

_I thought it was just... hormones... a silly Hogwarts crush... thought it would go away..._

_Harry can't get off my arse about it, I'm sick of denying it!_

_I've got to sort myself out... what if I'm too late?_

_I'm sure she used to... have some... _feelings_ for me..._

_Remember what she said to you last year?_

_In the common room... the party after we had won the House Cup from Slytherin?_

_"Don't make me wait forever, Ron"_

_Okay, so she'd been slightly tipsy...I told Harry we shouldn't let her drink another butterbeer...but she'd said it, no mistake._

_Said it close to my ear, her hand on my shoulder... I remember that feeling..._

_But maybe that's not how she meant it... maybe she meant, "Don't make me wait forever... for my next bottle of butterbeer"_

_What if I ruin what we have, and she never speaks to me again? _

_Never speaking to her, seeing her again... or worse... seeing her with SOMEONE ELSE… BLIMEY... that wouldn't do..._

_Merlin, just the thought and my stomach is full of flobberworms..._

_I cannot lie here another minute! _

_Mum always says a good cup of tea cures all wounds...*_

With that thought, Ron stepped lightly out of bed and stretched a long leg over a sleeping Harry on a camp cot and left his bedroom. 

As he crept slowly down the stairs he noticed a candle had been left burning on the kitchen table. Although it was burning very low and almost gone, it provided enough light to set the kettle to boil and prepare his tea. Thinking that the house was too quiet, he flicked his wand, switching on the wireless. Although they weren't supposed to use magic until they had finished the year, Dumbledore had managed to get the seventh years extra privileges owing to the fact that Voldemort remained a threat. Low strains filled the kitchen with holiday melody.

After preparing his tea, Ron opted to drink it in the living room; it was warmer and more comfortable. He could get some real thinking done in there. 

He took one step in and dropped his arms to his sides, spilling tea all over the floor and dropping his mug to the carpet with a soft thud. He barely noticed.

She was _ethereal_.

In the soft red-orange, barely-there light of the dying fire, she could have been a goddess. 

Curled up in his old hand-me-down Chudley Cannons sweater, book lying open across her chest, snoring slightly, he knew this was no crush. 

He loved this girl.

His ears burnt red and his throat constricted at the realization.

She shivered slightly then, and he realized that he'd been standing there staring at her for a few minutes, the fire was almost totally gone now and the room was beginning to feel chilly.

Ron muttered a spell, causing the fire to gain some life. 

_*This is what I want to do... what I was meant to do... keep her warm, safe.*****_

He stepped close to the sofa and knelt down until he was even with her.

He slowly lifted the book from her chest, accidentally brushing the backs of his fingers against her breast for a moment. Even this small contact caused him to shiver. 

He set the book on the floor and gently shook her shoulder.

"Hermione?"

She didn't stir.

"'Mione, wake up"

Her lashes fluttered, then opened. 

*Funny, how come I've never noticed that her eyelashes have golden tips? And that her eyes are flecked with the exact same colour?*

She made a growling, I-don't-want-to-wake-up noise that caused him an inward groan and an outward chuckle.

"Come on, you better head up to Ginny's room...  I've slept on that sofa myself, you'll have a crick in your neck for a week if you don't get up" he said all of this in a soft whisper, savoring the rare feeling he had whenever he was this close to her.      

She nodded sleepily, "Alright Ron" 

He offered his hand and she took it, and stood up floppily.

"What time is it?" yawned the rumpled girl.

"After two I think"

"That late? Oh my!"

He looked down at their hands and realized that he hadn't dropped hers yet. But he took advantage of Hermione's drowsiness and continued to hold it. He was also able to study her a bit while she regained her senses. 

He liked this Hermione. Usually she was speaking so rapidly, he rarely got to enjoy the quiet with her. However, it was cute when she got spouting off her little facts at a million clicks a second. And when she ate, slept, breathed, smiled at him, screamed at him...

"What are you doing up so late Ron?" she yawned.

"Couldn't sleep"

"After a day entertaining five nieces and nephews you can't sleep?" she smiled, "You're brilliant with them."

"They're easy," He melted under her adoring gaze.

*She looks like... like maybe she feels the same...tc "*She looks like... like maybe she feels the same..." 

_Now or never Ronnie!_

_Tell her how you feel, before you lose your chance!*_

"Hermione, the reason I couldn't sleep... I mean...well the reason that I've been acting so strangely... the fact _is_..._bloody hell_" 

In frustration, Ron dropped her hand and took a step backwards, unable to think clearly while touching her. His forgotten mug however was not to remain forgotten. He stepped directly on it, lost his balance and fell backwards onto his backside, hitting the back of his head on the corner of the side table.

He saw stars. Forgetting that he was in the presence of a lady, he let out a mighty string of expletives. 

"Oh my goodness! Ron, are you alright??" Hermione rushed over to his side, picking up the accursed mug, "Who would leave a mug in a puddle of tea on the middle of the carpet, really!"

Ron smiled, then chuckled and then laughed.

"What is so funny Ron?? Are you sure you're okay?? Here, get up" She stood and offered him a hand. He took it and stood.

"Yes, 'Mione, I'm fine....I just…"

But she wasn't satisfied, as she faced him; she reached her hands around the back of this head, feeling for lumps. He gulped audibly.

"Oh Ron, that's a pretty big bump, here let me...." she reached for her wand inside her pants pocket, allowing Ron a quick peek at a smooth, white stomach. She tapped her wand on his wound and muttered something. He felt the pain lessen somewhat.

"Thank you. That feels much better actually."

"Well are you sure you're ok? For some reason, you thought nearly splitting your skull was utterly hilarious a moment ago!"

He smiled again. Then took a deep breath. 

"The reason I laughed Hermione, is because... _I _dropped that mug just a few minutes ago"

"You did? Why didn't you just clean it up right away? What if your mother's rug is stained?"

"I was too busy staring to clean"

She eyed him quizzically, "Staring?"

"Yeah, I was....staring at.... you"

The simple sentence made her pulse quicken. She shook her head. "Me?"

He took her hand again sending chills up his arm.

"Yeah, well.... blimey Herm, you just looked so, so.... I don't know, perfect." She stared at him, apparently stunned, he knew his ears were bright red,  "And the thing is, that is, the reason I came down here in the first place was to think about _you_, see?"

Apparently she _didn't_ see, because she just continued to look at Ron in disbelief.

"Come on, Herm. You're smart. You've seen the way I've been carrying on around you lately...can barely keep my head.... and…. well I've just worked it out tonight, when I was watching you. The reason I've been so nuts and the reason we always fight.... it's because... well you make me crazy. I mean, _bugger,_ that doesn't sound right, I'm crazy _about _you. You see now?" He nodded hopefully at her.

The shocked Hermione continued to stare, wide-eyed and open-mouthed at her friend.

"Herm, say something." He raised their joined hands, placing them on his heart, "Blimey, Hermione, what I'm saying here is that... I love you." 

She finally moved at that comment. She took a step back, pulling her hand out of his. He could see that she had tears in her eyes and her face was flushed.

"You.... you what?" she barely whispered.

"I.... Merlin, maybe this is the wrong time, maybe we're too young, or I've mistaken and you don't feel the same, but.... it's true, I.... love you. _Love _love you, as more than a friend" he paused, "I suppose, well I suppose I always have. I've just been too thick to see it. I'll understand if you're angry with me, but I just had to get it off my chest, and....oh don't cry Herm"

A single tear had escaped and fell down her cheek.

"Listen, I'll just head back up to bed and you can pretend I never said anything if you want" This thought made him feel nauseous again, but he couldn't stand to see her this way.

She shook her head, "Ron.... you great git....what's wrong with you?!"

He felt the words like a blow to the gut, "I'm sorry Herm, just.... just forget it...." 

As he turned to leave he felt a tug on the arm of his too-small maroon pajamas.

Suddenly Hermione was in his arms, her face on his neck, soaking it with tears, muttering, "Finally". 

She pulled back and swatted his shoulder, "Of _course _I feel the same way! I've been sending hints for _years! _What took you so bloody long? You really can be thick sometimes...."

He let out a pent up breath and pulled her roughly back into his arms again, taking a steadying breath as he did. He closed his eyes and kissed her cheek, her eyelid, her nose and then rested this forehead on hers.

"Merlin, I love you"

"I love you too, Ron" 

They stood there in each other's arms, swaying slightly to the soft music that floated in from the kitchen.

Hermione moved to sit on the sofa and motioned for Ron to sit beside her. When he did she turned her face up to him and he ever so lightly brushed his lips against hers. Her hands snaked timidly to the back of his neck and she laced her fingers through his hair. They sat there for a few moments, sharing their first, innocent kisses.

When they broke apart they were both breathless.

They stayed up for another hour talking and laying together, Hermione's head rested on Ron's chest, his arm wound around her shoulders. 

And that is how Molly found them the next morning, sleeping peacefully on the sofa.

"Well," she thought, "it's about time!"

That statement was heard repeatedly all Christmas day, bringing nervous smiles and embarrassed blushes to the faces of the two new lovebirds.

***Okay! Hope you liked it, but I guess if you got this far you didn't totally hate it! Please review and let me know what you think!!!!***


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